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The Cuban team coached by Orlando Samuels scored 11 victories and suffered only one defeat, due to its traditional strength in attack effectiveness, which gave it 28 points, surpassed only by multichampion Brazil with 29 points.

The youth of the Cuban players and the lack of international matches sometimes caused the loss of rhythm and effectiveness in team performance, but they were able to recover and emerge victorious in their matches, with great fighting spirit and confidence in their game.

The team's internal weaknesses added to some questionable refereesâ?Ö decisions that influenced the psychological state of the Cuban team, which won the title in 1998 and came second in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 1999.

The leadership assumed by captain Robertlandy Simon, the confidence of libero Keibel Gutierrez, the progress of Raidel Hierrezuelo as setter and the power of the auxiliary attackers constitute the fundamental pillars of the Cuban team.

In addition, the prominence acquired by Fernando Hernandez, Rolando Cepeda and Henry Bell provided more power in attack and greater relevance of the substitutes.

This new generation of volleyball players needs to mature on the field and achieve greater team integration, but their performance in the qualifying round demonstrates the team's great potential to recapture the title.

In the final round the young Cuban team will play Italy, which has the best league in the world, and Russia, 2002 world champion and always aspiring to the title.

The Russians will be the first obstacle for the Cubans on July 22, and a day later they will meet the Italians, who, along with Brazil, have won this title eight times.

The Cuban team will reduce its errors as much as possible and maintain the same game level during its matches against the Europeans in order to return to the podium, where it has not been since 2005, when it got the bronze medal.